Maya stared at the announcement for a solid minute, hardly noticing the tutorial area fading and the world coming into being around her, questions forming too quickly for her to keep up. First and foremost of which …

"Luck -100?! You got to be kidding me! What's the point of a luck-based class if it's just gonna nerf my chances like this?"

No system message appeared in response to her questions. A few passing townspeople gave her odd looks, then hurried away as if afraid of being noticed by her. She noticed, and scowled after them.

Luck -100. Right there on her sheet, alongside a little lock icon which clearly meant that the stat could not be improved or changed. At all. Ever.

"If I don't get some answers, I'm going to reload and never play this class ever!"

She highlighted the items she'd been granted, one by one removing them from her inventory so she could examine them. Trickster's Mask? Looked little better than a paper plate with eye holes to her, albeit painted garishly in purple and gold patterns.

Trickster's Dice? As far as she could tell, it was just a single die, numbered from 1 to 100. As she turned over in her hand, the numbers flickered and shifted as she watched. A +7 became a -7, flickered back to +7. Same with 98, 4, 22, 13… each number constantly flickered between the positive and negative version of itself. Except 100, which changed between 100 and 0.

The Trickster's Orb was a glass ball only about twice the size of the die, shoddily painted in gold with five purple dots.

"What is all this garbage?"

She was sorely tempted to throw them at the nearest wall. She’d expected to get something decent for a rare class, maybe enchanted armor or a special weapon. But this?

Movement caught her eye. One dot on the orb was fading, then vanished completely. As it did so a system message appeared.

Query accepted. The Trickster has invited you to Asgard. You have one minute to accept or decline.

Well. That sounded like fun.

Maya scowled at her soulbound items, scowled at the invitation, and scowled even more at her -100 luck. Nope. No thanks. She was out.

“Load game 2 deciding my future.”

Character state can only be saved and loaded in designated safe zones. Please move to a safe zone and try again.

Maya screeched in frustration, threw the mask on the ground, and stomped on it. This was supposed to be a game, right? Weren’t games supposed to be fun?

Kicking the mask one last time for good measure, she stood panting, out of breath. Not for long. Her stamina recovered quickly. But the brief forced pause was enough to calm her. She’d overreacted, perhaps. It was just a short delay. Once she found a safe zone, she could go back and become a mage.

But, then again, it was a class in a game. It was a rare class in a game. It was presumably intended to be fun. And just because she didn't like the initial presentation much was no reason to ragequit without even giving it a chance.

So, trying very hard to push down her irritation, Maya brought the invitation back to focus and accepted it with eight seconds left.

Immediately the world shifted around her, much as it did when transitioning to and from the tutorial area. This time, however, she was not standing in a plaza.

Maya stood on the balcony overlooking golden and pink clouds that spread out in every direction. She turned to see what the building behind her was like, only to discover there was no building. The balcony continued a short way, then stopped with a railing much like that at which she stood. It was a self-contained balcony, hanging from nothing, floating amid sunrise colored clouds with no visible support whatsoever.

She backed away to the center and sat down, feeling dizzy just imagining how high up this must be.

"Hello, Maya Starborn. I'm so glad you decided to accept my invitation."

Maya jumped and spun around, startled. She'd thought herself alone on this balcony. And indeed she was. The man who'd addressed her walked down the nearest cloud as though descending a fluffy, lumpy staircase. Despite that, his voice sounded as close as though he were right behind her.

Maya cleared her throat. "Hello. Loki I presume?"

The man smirked at her. "Well what gave it away? Is it my unquestionably handsome appearance?"

"No, it was the combination of Trickster and Asgard. You should really consider rebranding if you don't want to be recognized."

She gave him a glance over, but apart from his long black hair and blatantly deific toga, he didn't really look exceptional to her.

"So quick to assume. What makes you so sure this is my real identity? Perhaps Loki is just another face of … someone else."

"That's fine with me. I'll just call you Trickster either way."

"Ah, titles," he said, voice full of barely restrained laughter. "Then I shall call you the same. We'll be like brother and sister, isn’t that lovely? I'm obviously the stronger, older, handsome and powerful one. You're the weak little sister with … temper issues apparently."

Maya realized she was scowling at him and forced herself to feign a vaguely pleasant expression. "So, I'm guessing you brought me here in response to my query about this bunch of garbage trying to pass themselves off as class items?" Maya grabbed the mask, which had apparently refused to stay behind where she'd left it, and shook it at him with one hand, the other holding out the oversized die and undersized golden ball.

"Yes, obviously. No points for guessing that. The Trickster's Mask is your primary class item, and you should be grateful to have so many. Most classes only get one. The Mask allows you to hide your true nature as a trickster. Otherwise, no one would ever trust you. We can't have that. So, using the mask you can set your public persona to be any class you have the other requirements for. Since you’ve learned a magic spell and have a high intelligence and energy, you could use the mask to assume the guise of a mage. Or, since you've got a ranged weapon skill, you could be ranger."

His eyebrows rose as though in surprise, his attention flickering away from her face for a moment. "And you already have a specialization as well," he said, sounding actually impressed. "Good job persuading that slippery little slimeball to break the rules on your behalf. Must've been your luck helping out with that. Most people wouldn't have a chance. So those other specialized subclasses will also be available in your mask interface."

"What about physical appearance though? Won't they be suspicious if a black and white harpy with purple wing stripes goes around claiming to be a mage one minute and a ranger the next? And what about my name?"

The Trickster waved his hand dismissively. "Put on a dress and no one will care about your face. Do you know what players look for? Equipment and class combination. They won’t remember your name and they certainly won't remember your face. Unless you do something particularly noteworthy or draw attention to it, obviously. There is no official friend system, no official party system; if you wish to travel together you simply walk in the same direction. Outside of a few specific areas, there is little reason for anyone to ever know your name if you don’t wish them to, and you are of course welcome to claim it is whatever you wish. I recommend you use your journal to keep track, if you plan on using multiple identities. This would be incredibly embarrassing for Maya the Mage to accidentally introduce herself as Starborn the Ranger, wouldn't it?"

"I'd really feel more comfortable playing multiple roles if I could change my physical appearance."

"Ah, But decisions made at character creation are final. You can't go changing your appearance willy-nilly. What if someone noticed? Then I'd be in trouble for allowing you to undermine one of that game's base systems." Maya found it interesting that he displayed no difficulty or discomfort in discussing it as a game, unlike most other NPCs she'd seen who seemed pained by the mere thought.

"I'm sure that refers to only major things like choosing a race or deciding if you're small or large," she said. "Surely there are some cosmetic options. There have to be ways to color your feathers or adjust the style of your crest. What kind of game would it be if you had to look exactly the same forever?"

"Well, obviously. There you have it! There are plenty of options in-game to customize your appearance, they don't need to be included in the class item. However, if you do obtain cosmetic items - such as, say, an option to recolor your feathers or re-style your crest - you may instead of consuming it use it on the mask to add it to one of your cover identities. However, that is a permanent change, and you won’t be able to retrieve the item. You can overwrite it with a new one, but not alter or reclaim it once the initial decision is made."

"And you were just going to let me think it wasn't even an option? You're a jerk."

"No, you are simply very very unfortunate right now. If you weren't clever, I couldn't tell you anything."

"So… because right now my luck is at -100 – which I believe is entirely your fault by the way – you can't tell me anything unless asked about it?" Maya asked slowly, thinking it over as she spoke.

"Not exactly. I do have some modicum of freedom. But I'd rather not waste it. You asked a question, and I brought you here to give you the answer. You asked 'what is this garbage,' so, ask about the garbage."

"Ah. The garbage. My class items. So the mask lets me disguise myself as someone I'm not, but could've been. What about this giant flickering dice – which really should not be called dice since it's a singular, by the way."

"So glad you asked! The Trickster's Dice is a special item, one which is intended to help mitigate the, well, unfortunate side effects of having chosen a life of deception. The Trickster's Dice may be rolled at anytime. When it's rolled, it adds a temporary debuff to your luck, -5 for the duration, which begins at 6 hours. Before you start yelling 'why would I want to decrease my luck more', the other side of the die is that whatever number it lands upon is your new luck stat for the remainder of the day. So, if -100 doesn't suit you, simply roll your dice and you may end up with -65 – minus 5 for having rolled the dice of course, so -70 — which is still a significant increase from -100. Or you might get lucky and end up with positive 70. We tricksters rely almost entirely on luck." He smiled at her, finally reaching the bottom of his clouds and stepping out onto the balcony itself.

"What's to stop me rolling it again and again until I get a good number?"

"The -5 debuff, primarily. It stacks, both in number and duration. Each time you roll is another -5 and adds 12 hours to the duration. If you have to roll it 20 times, well, that -100 will outweigh anything positive you may have gotten, and it’ll be around for a long time. Secondarily, me."

"You?" Maya asked skeptically.

"Me. I will be personally in charge of giving you your daily quests. And before you act all indignant, allow me to point out that in this world quests are generated at random and are available to everyone. If a global quest to kill 10 wolves appears, the person who happens to be already standing in the wolf field is almost certainly going to be the one who gets that reward. It requires a great deal of luck, as well as being in the right place at the right time. Without my help, I don't see that happening for you."

"So you are in charge of getting me quests. What kind of quests? And what does this have to do with rerolling my luck?"

"The first time you roll the die on a given day I will give you a quest. Quests will be based upon that first roll. You can refuse to undertake it, but in that case you'll have a penalty of -50 luck for the next day. If you successfully complete it, you'll be granted a bonus of 20. If you attempt it but fail, I’ll personally decide on your penalty or reward, depending on how close you got to success and how much time you dedicated to it. That way, if you roll a -99 and then reroll a 100, you'll still have to deal with the consequences by taking on the most unlucky quest I can think of for you."

"-50 for refusing and only +20 for succeeding seems a bit skewed."

"I am a trickster, after all. Where's the fun if I just hand you everything? Here, roll." He motioned toward the die in her hand.

She watched the flickering numbers for a moment, then shrugged and rolled. It bounced off the balcony floor, spinning and tumbling, then finally came to a stop. The Trickster pranced over, leaned down to examine it, then chuckled.

"A zero! Your very first roll and you roll exactly zero. No penalties, no bonuses. Well, your one -5 bonus, but that's hardly worth mentioning. Exactly average number. How fascinating! Well then, as your current total luck is -5, here is your quest for today."

Trickster Day One. Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement.

"There! Going easy on you maybe, but it is your first day. Once you finish that, well, we'll see how it goes. You're already ahead of the curve, having contacted me within minutes of arriving. Keep this up and who knows where you'll end up! Now, then, if that's everything?"

"Wait, wait, no, not done yet. I need to know about all the class items." She held up the orb. "What's this thing?"

He beamed at her. "Well done! You’d be astounded how many people forget about that until after I've shooed them out. That, dear trickster, is basically a telephone. It allows you to contact me at any time. If you feel life is treating you unfairly or if you just need to have a chat, hold it in your hand, ask a question or say my name, and I will either come to you or bring you here. Obviously, whichever I decide depends on your circumstances. In the middle of a war zone? I would definitely go there. But if you're all alone off by yourself I see no reason why I couldn't bring you in here."

"There were five dots. Now there are only four. Does that mean it's a limited use item?"

"Correct again! It is indeed a limited use item. Alas, I have so many followers and I just can't be bothered to zip about between them constantly. You may contact me five times every month. At the end of 30 days, all five dots will reset and you may contact me once again. Keep in mind, your query must be specific. For instance, I have now finished telling you all about 'what is this garbage,' so it's time for you to go. It has been lovely chatting with you, dear trickster. Do call again soon."

The Trickster clapped his hands, and everything around her shifted again.

Character Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 2 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Path of Life Total Base Items Modifiers Sturdiness: 8 8 0 0 Momentum: 12 9 0 3 Agility: 9 8 0 1 Control: 8 8 0 0 Attunement: 10 9 0 1 Focus: 9 8 0 1 Intelligence: 11 9 0 2 Flexibility: 9 8 0 1 Luck: -5 0 - -5 Unassigned: 0 Health: 88 of 88 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 56 of 56 Energy: 56 of 60 Speed: 82% Switch penalty: -52%, 10.2 secs Stealth: 78% Chain bonus: +4% Awareness: 66% Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 3 Abilities Abilities: [3 of 3] Wind Whisper

[5 energy] Blow into cupped hands, then push the air toward the target.

Creates a light breeze, a quick gust, or a damaging slash.

[Overcharge: +5 energy, +0.2 sec cast time, +50% force/duration/dmg] 2.2 sec

5 dmg

(wind) Throw Knife

[5 stamina] Throw a knife at a target with high accuracy. Requires a knife. 1.1 sec

n/a dmg

(physical) Sense Balance Discern if an area is lacking in or has an excess of any materials, creatures, etc. Inventory Item Name Slot Stu Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Newcomer's Tunic Body Newcomer's Leggings Legs Inventory Money: None Quality Item name Details Soulbound Trickster's Mask Soulbound Trickster's Dice Soulbound Trickster's Orb 4/5 uses remaining Missions Mission Description

Time Reward Trickster Day 1 Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement. 14h 37m Trickster's Reward

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